When aliens finally come to Planet Earth — and if you’ve watched Battlestar Galactica or Contact, you know it’s just a matter of time — let’s hope the Cylons don’t judge the pop-cultural significance of American Idol based on its February 28, 2013 installment.

There are a thousand sleepytime metaphors I could call on to describe the tedious proceedings — gentle sheep leaping over fluffy clouds, the swooping descent of the Lunesta butterfly, a tin-soldier-esque lineup of the last letter of the alphabet (Zzzzzz) — but why not just speak the ugly truth of the episode: The final 10 guys competing for a spot in the Season 12 semifinals proved truly, depressingly unworthy of even nipping at the heels of past contestants like Matt Giraud, Anoop Desai, Michael Johns, Paul McDonald, Stefano Langone and Joshua Ledet (just to name a few) — none of whom managed to make it to their respective season finales.

Meanwhile, the show’s misguided insistence on gender parity — 10 men and 10 women advance to the Season 12 voting rounds, with only five each advancing to the finals — feels more and more like the barely seen iceberg about to sink the Titanic of reality TV cruiseliners. Three quarters of the men who’ll be competing in next week’s extravaganza aren’t worthy of bringing Candice Glover, Kree Harrison and Amber Holcomb their afternoon beverages!

Anyhow, before this recap is sunk by a tidal wave of rage and negativity, maybe it’s best for me to jump to the set list (complete with letter grades) for the Thursday-night show. I’m going to do my best in this recap to make no mention of the judges’ critiques, since this time around they were collectively as authentic, organic and relevant as Jennifer Lopez singing without the help of Auto-Tune:

Mathenee Treco: Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation” | Those who don’t learn their Idol history are doomed to repeat it: And unfortunately for Mathenee, he chose the kitschy, word-packed ditty that TKO’d no less than future chart-topper Chris Daughtry from the competition back in Season 5. To be fair, I appreciated that Mathenee actually brought some movement to his performance — it proved a welcome respite from the “stands at mic, raises hand during glory notes” style favored in these early rounds — but alas, dude just didn’t have the vocal dexterity to keep pace with the rapid-fire wordplay of Elvis’ original. Plus, Mathenee lacked the range to hit some of the song’s high notes, which intermittently turned his lyrical demands for “a little less bite, a little less bark” into poodle-being-stepped-on screeches. Oh, and the final nail in the coffin was shaped like Mathenee’s backwards baseball cap. (Gah! Srsly, Mathenee? Maybe that flies in the Bahamas, or a frat house, but not on the Idol stage. And if it’s a matter of being “hair challenged” — like myself — let Bruce Willis be your spirit animal. Dude is bald — and still damn hot!) Grade: C-

Gurpreet Singh Sarin: James Morrison’s “Nothing Ever Hurt Like You” | I’m pretty certain I haven’t experienced anything as astonishingly flat as the notes in Gurpreet’s big-stage debut since Ryan Gosling bared his abs in Crazy, Stupid, Love. On a scale of one to CTRL+ALT+DEL, this was a fatal system error. Grade: D-

Vincent Powell: Lenny Williams’ “’Cause I Love You” | Wait — Vincent used to be a background singer for Whitney Houston? And the Idol powers-that-be didn’t bother to share that intel till now because why? (I know, I know…insanity is asking the same basic questions of a reality TV producer and expecting different results.) Anyhow, Vincent wound up giving a solid, old-school soul vocal that was as rooted in the ’70s as macramé plant-hangers and floral-print polyester. There were moments — like that 25-second (approximate) glory note — where I felt like Vincent was serving more affectation than a genuine display of emotion, but I don’t think he missed a single note, so I’m gonna quit my quibbling here. Grade: B

Nick Boddington: James Morrison’s “Say Something Now” | Nick was one of the few Season 12 guys who headed to Vegas looking like a genuine threat to win the whole chimichanga, but in front of the big studio audience, his nerves seemed to get the best of him, and his clear and powerful tone gave way to a quivering glob of uncertainty (complete with a wayward falsetto interlude). Perhaps even worse, Nick’s song choice was as uninviting as a piece of cold, dry toast with coagulated butter: I know, I know…a lot of folks dig James Morrison, but just like female contestants’ recent obsession with Jessie J, I’m confounded by so many guys gravitating to James Morrison. I mean, hasn’t anyone noticed his songs don’t have any actual hooks? Grade: C+

Josh Holiday: An original song called “Better With You” | Look, all the credit in the world to Josh for eschewing conventional Idol wisdom (woohoo!) and performing one of his own compositions so early in the season. Yeah, the lyrics were a wee bit underwhelming, but the melody was pretty, and wasn’t it more exciting than watching yet another guy break out the cat o ‘ nine tails and administer a beating to a dead horse like “Against All Odds” or “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”? The real problem with Josh’s song — and I found it fascinating that not a single judge had the courage to say it — was that he simply didn’t sing it very well. The falsetto notes were far beyond Josh’s range, and I’d bet there’s never been a more dismal closing note in any Final 40 grouping from prior Idol seasons. No, seriously, I’d actually take a bet on that. Winner gets a new pony! Who’s in? Grade: D+

David Oliver Willis: Peggy Lee’s “Fever” | Oh hey, it’s a guy who got 11 total seconds of screentime since January, and he’s giving the absolute best vocal of he night! What do we do with him? Well, we have Nicki tear into him like a cat with a can of Fancy Feast, telling him he’s like a wayward relative breaking out his acoustic guitar before Christmas dinner. To which I say, I’d welcome a relative who had the skill and the confidence to take a well-worn golden oldie, rework it into a sexy blues jam, and deliver it with pitch perfection. No, David didn’t make “Fever” into a big, range-y extravaganza — I’m just gonna pretend Keith didn’t dip into Randy’s thesaurus and talk about the lack of “moments — but just because you’re singing in front of MariahCarey doesn’t mean you pile on the unnecessary embellishments. After all, in many instances a simple pine tree with white lights can be a far more stirring sight than a full light-up nativity flanked by Santa and his reindeer and a giant-scale inflatable SpongeBob, yes? Grade: B+

Bryant Tadeo: Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” | I’m not going to pretend that Bryant’s performance was the kind of show-stopping delight that can catapult a singer from cannon-fodder to front-runner (a la Allison Iraheta’s “Alone,” to name one example). But the handsome, snappily dressed fella colored nicely inside the frame of Billy Joel’s original, didn’t try to stretch it into an awkward shape or beat it to death with the melisma stick, and displayed a quiet confidence that I’d have happily tuned in to see for another two or three weeks. That, however, wasn’t the kind of situation for which the judges were looking. So maybe next season Bryant can course-correct and drop some flirtatious comments to Nicki or gut a classic song and toss its melody and entrails into the SwayBot pit. Then we’ll see about the semifinals, kiddo! Grade: B-

Burnell Taylor: John Legend’s “This Time” | I really enjoyed Burnell’s audition to “I’m Here,” and thought he sounded pretty promising in Hollywood Week as well, so it stands to reason that I may return to his fan base in the future. But there was something strange about his tone on “This Time” that just didn’t sit well in my ear (or my other ear, for that matter). Maybe I got distracted by Burnell’s geek-chic bowtie makeover. Or maybe it was his “Mariah on Red Bull” hand gestures. Yo, for me for you, though, it was just ai’ight, dawg. [Side note: Help me, it’s way past my bedtime and I think some kind of evil spirit is trying to make me morph into Randy. To my hubby, if you’re reading this and you notice Haley Reinhart’s indispensable Listen Up! has been deleted from our iTunes, you know what to do: Bring in an exorcist!] Grade: C+

Lazaro Arbos: Keith Urban’s “Tonight I Wanna Cry” | No, Lazaro, I wanna cry, because after listening to your grisly Keith Urban cover — liberally peppered with bum notes and a total lack of breath support — all I can think is how your spot in the semifinals should’ve gone to Juliana Chahayed or Rachel Hale or Jett Hermano (or even Shubha Vedula or Isabelle). You’re cute as a basket of puppies, and you’ve got a heartstring-tugging backstory, and I wish you every success in life, but the problem is you’re not even remotely ready for the rigors of this competition. And no amount of eggshell-walking by the judges — Nicki telling you you “played it safe, but in a good way” or Keith saying you have a “spirit that burns through your vocal” — is going to make it otherwise. I wish they’d had the courtesy to cut you tonight — which would’ve given you a shot to return next season — but I guess it’s not part of the masterplan. Le sigh. Grade: D-

Cortez Shaw: David Guetta & Sia’s “Titanium” | Oh, and I know I said I was trying not to discuss the judges’ feedback, but Keith’s summation of Cortez’s performance was equal parts fascinating, astute, and absurd. For sure, he had a point that Cortez’s slowed-down arrangement of the massive dance hit was “incredibly unforgiving” and that, when he did find the correct note, he actually sounded pretty great. But how come no one pointed out that right from the opening verse, the song was pitched far too high for the handsome student’s instrument. Listening to the guy stretch in vain to reach the soaring peaks of “Titanium” was like witnessing a feeble octogenarian trying to grab a jar of jam from the top shelf in the grocery store. The task is impossible, the embarrassment factor is high, and it’s probably going to end with broken shards of glass and besmirched deliciousness. Maybe the judges put Cortez through based on his prior work — or maybe they advanced him because he’s hot (aka “an interesting artist for today’s scene,” according to Randy Jackson, but I really wished they’d dropped the pretense that somehow this was a performance worthy of a Top 10 finish (and a spot on the Idol tour). Oh sweet hell, no. Grade: C+

Anyhow, with that, let me turn things over to you. What did you think of the fourth and final Vegas round of American Idol Season 12? What did you think of the judges’ decisions? Who was your favorite? Did David get robbed? Was Lazaro the recipient of the Danny Gokey Backstory Gold Medal? Take our poll below, then sound off in the comments, and for all my Idol-related news, recaps, interviews and videos, follow me on Twitter @MichaelSlezakTV!Follow @MichaelSlezakTV

I wasn’t truly blown away by anyone tonight. I almost felt like if they were just not brutal or had super off moments tonight they were getting through. I have yet to really get fully engrossed by any of the guys. Curtis was good, Lazaro was ok(better in the past), Devin is pretty good. So there have have been hints of it, but they just aren’t strong this season, thus far. Anything can change I guess, but so far it’s been very middle of the line or below the line.

I actually like Burnell. I appreciated his vocal interpretation, like how he added a staccato on the last word of the line “I’m showing you all my car-ar-ar-ards.” It made the song feel fresher and more indie. And I didn’t mind the hand gesticulations (but it wouldn’t hurt him to knock it back by 30% so it doesn’t get distracting too much). Think of all the odd but riveting body movements and hand gestures we’ve seen from notable performers like David Byrne and Thom York.

I loves me some Candice (and Vincent was holding court too!) but I’ve heard this stuff before. I wish there was more artistic singers/current sounds coming from the pack like we’ve had in the past. So I guess that’s why I was impressed that Burnell moved away from the “church sound”, which is over-popluated, to something different.

Let’s be honest here…it’s not like Idol is just trying to ensure a girl wins…BUT Idol has blatantly gone out of its way to ensure that a white guy will not win Idol this season…and seriously…congratulations because they accomplished that…so all the decent guys left are all cut from the same R&B affectation school of music and all others are personalities that have absolutely no right to be there…so Nigel, enjoy your declining ratings and remember how you got them there…it wasn’t The Voice…it wasn’t X-Factor…it wasn’t Nicki vs Mariah…it’s all because you’ve ensured that instead of variety in your finalists that appeal to a wide range of viewers, you have limited your audience potential…and don’t feign outrage next week when 4 minorities get eliminated…not 1 male country singer is a finalist…not 1 male rock singer is a finalist…it’s all soul, blue-eyed soul and crazies…good riddance to this season of sameness

All I can say is that American Idol isn’t the same without Simon, he’s the only judge who kept everyone in line and could see throught the crap. He kept it real. Keith is a nice guy he’s just okay, Niki is too phony I wish she would quit grooming her hair, I’m tired of hearing Yo Dog. And Mariah acts like she’s in a beauty pageant. Her comments don’t even help the contestants. American Idol is hoo hum since Simon left. These new judges are intimidated by the audience and are afraid of being booed. You can see it.
Doesn’t anyone else miss Simon? I can’t wait for X Factor, to hear some good honest judging.
Simon if you’re reading this please come back to American Idol.

Yes, I miss Simon. It has not been the same since. All I got to say is that all this manipulation to get a girl win will do no good unless they change the voting system. The demo that votes will just pick one of the white boys left that’s closest to a WGWG and meets their criteria for a role model.

I’d prefer he doesn’t and I avoid his “self indulgent” presence on X-factor. He was good relative to other judges Idol but he rarely had much to add in terms of what particularly he likes. He say that he expects more interpretation and grace than he’d hear a Karaoke hour and plainly state his view without hurling a word as an insult from a king. Mentioning the parts that could have went somewhere but where a singer playing catch up -describes- what is karaoke and less that a professional level without just throwing a word at it.

The super successful singers on the panels have the self confidence and credibility as musicians that they don’t need to act important to be important. Being polite isn’t holding back but trusts the audience to listen to their exact words, not just see “happy face, sad face” good/bad etc.

Absolutely right, Cortez was BY FAR the worst of the night. Nothing was on key, tone was awful; they all talked about his range, but what good is range if your high notes are dreadful. Utter embarrassment that he is through to the next round.

LOL. Indeed. I agreed with most of Nikki’s assessments. I think she is more right than wrong. That’s just my opinion ;) I think she has a good ear, knows what’s current, makes good critiques blah blah. If she gets her way as well – more power to her…

Keith has a much better ear than she does. Bryant was boring, but to say she hated everything about that performance, but loved Cortez’s vocal shows that she does not have a good ear. She has her taste, but it’s more about attitude and performance. Example #2: She based David, who was BY FAR the next best after Vincent and example #3: she told Burnell that nobody tonight was even in his league when Vincent outsung him.

Pat, I agree with you for the most part, although I would put Mathanee at number seven and move everyone else down based only on personal preference. While Burnell was technically not bad I just could NOT get into him and I failed to see that he was as fabulous as Nicki thought he was. I agree with your comment about his whiny tone.
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Thank you for writing Lazaro’s diction renders everything unintelligible. And was Melinda Ademi the contestant whose family escaped from Kosovo or one of the other Balkan countries?

I think Mathenee was more karaoke because of the song choice. Someone posted below “A Little Less Conversation” was the only song he could get cleared. I was remembering his performance in “Somebody to Love” on Group Night.

It is Randy who seems to get his way all the time. Keith and Nicki keep telling contestants they they fought for them. I don’t think Randy has ever told someone he faught for them but they had to go. I don’t think anyone has stayed after getting a really negative review from Randy. For these past 2 weeks, everyone who stayed was who Randy liked the most with the exception of last night when Randy liked just about every performance so a couple he really liked went home.

I think you are right about Randy being the mouthpiece for TPTB. That would explain why his comments have never made sense to me. I can not tell what performances he will like and which ones he won’t based on the performances. His reactions are famous for being non-specific like “I just didn’t get it”, or “For you, for me, that was not the right song choice.” That would be consistent with him just being a mouthpiece for RPTB who has been told ahead of time which contestants he should push, which ones he should be negative toward, and which ones are middle of the road.

I could swear there were times he was even smiling and getting into the groove and just totally into something and then he goes and talks and suddenly he is like dawg uhh uhh i don’t know i just don’t know about that, it wasn’t good, sorry, it just wasn’t good, it wasn’t, it wasn’t. And it’s like what?? They just showed you by all intents appearing to be totally digging it while the contestant was performing! (the only that has ever not fit is last week with the guys when he did bash down Elijah and Charlie I believe and yet those two went through, although maybe that was a TPTB wanted them through as fodder and Randy making sure they’d be fodder???? Or maybe that one day some special phase of the moon released him from his bound soul from The Powers That Be for that one night?! haha)

With Elijah and Charlie, he did not love their performances. But for both he said good things about them in general. So his comments were luke warm. He was less positive toward all 5 that went home, including disagreeing with the rest of the panel on some like Kevin and Johnny.

I agree with you, Pat. David was at least different and pretty solid. He should have been put through. The rest could go home as far as I’m concerned. What an awful, awful night. There is not a single guy in the competition who can survive in the real music world. Does it even matter who of this abysmal lot makes it to the Top 10 at this point?
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Also, is it me, or are the rejected contestants all, “oh well. cool. Ok. See ya around.”? As opposed to the mini-dramas that happened during the former “Chairs” episodes? Even the judges are kind of cool and remote when they drop the axe: “you didn’t make it. Sorry ’bout that. Good luck. Bye.” … know what I mean?
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I dunno, people. I’ve been a die-hard Idoloonie since season 4, and I honestly don’t feel like watching the rest of this season anymore. I don’t even have the energy to go through such disappointment next season either. It’s a sad day for me. Sad sad sad :-(

Wow.. that was a sophisticated attempt to understand music and people.

I liked all of their decisions other than Cortez.(it wasn’t like there I had anyone else I would have thought deserved it more though.. so it was only a slight disagreement ). Vincent Powell was really tremendous.. probably the best male rhytym and blues vocalist I have heard on the show for years(maybe ever – probably ever)

Obviously some people like big notes and they had to give into tastes but Keith kinda laughed at that and gave in. Cortez’s “cadences” as keith has called it.. lyrical interpretation… well, whatever. I bet most people wouldn’t understand why Isaac Perman was head and shoulders.. by mile a better violinist than that guy Ziljian in Las Vegas who can play notes so fast, or think that Doc Severensen wasn’t in Louis Armstrongs’s league. I’m not really sure they hear how Beyonce moves so gracefully between the notes.. where frases lift and fall with accelerations and drifts and only hear the glory notes and forgive someone who just goes through the motions with the notes between as if they’re just a run up ramp for a vault.

I think the judges are GREAT … reallly, really great and giving feedback like I’ve longed for for years and years. They don’t get it right everytime of course.. 15 seconds to come up with something useful to say without the benefit of rewindign and hearing the song a few times, but they do have a lot to say, beyond “karioke” or “pagent show” or “pitchy”.

Keith understands that everyone is entitled to say what they like even if it is his job to help develop artistry (and he’s doing a wonderful job) . Nikki says an awful lot useful too, and when things are beyond hope she just talks about something that can be addressed and the absence of comments on things she values says a load as well. I’ve been very impressed by Mariah too, as I have gotten to know her better, I can read between her lines and compare her statements in my mind to other things she says (as can the contestants) and understand where she is steering contestants and which particular aspects she finds valuable and would like to see the contestants expand upon. Randy has risen his game… I’ve always thought he can’t be nearly as stupid as he sounds – it is a tough thing to be able to speak intelligently off the cuff.. even if you are intelligent so I don’t want that to sound to rough other than questioning that if he can’t speak in a way that shares wisdom with the performer he shouldn’t be a judge.

They aren’t there to tell us what to like but to call out what they saw for our consideration and even more so, to encourage the contestant, on stage, and those waiting in the wings.. to learn from their comments to each contestant and take them to heart.

They do watch the dress rehearsals so many of the comments are pre-prepared, it only becomes an issue when the artist makes a big jump in performance when live. Poor Maria is always last and has the hardest job of them all especially when there are 4 judges, too many.

I agree about Nicki Minaj. Haven’t been able to even watch that much so far because she is insufferable. I feel so sorry for the singers who have to be judged by her. It really is a travesty. The show, IMO, was ruined this year. Mariah Carey and Keith Urban are trying to be real, but they are so overshadowed by Minaj, who is a self-absorbed train wreck. And I thought J-Lo was bad and obsessed with herself. I’d much rather have her back on the show. No comment necessary on Randy at this point. At least I can enjoy your recaps.

I agree about the Nikkii comment. Why is she Judging the Judges with her eye rolling and hair petting I can’t take it!!!! Mariah does try to relate to the contestants as singers but does need to give more comments they can use to take corrective actions. Nikki has no depth as a musician and is all about looks not talent. She’s so pushy its too much. No matter it’s the “Nikki Show”,Thanks AI.

@pat – would you rather the best twenty went through, half of them were cut the very next week, and then couldn’t come back next year? What you are seeing this year is a public version of what has always happened on idol – many talented people are not put before the public because the risk is you lose some very strong people for good. Don’t forget, being cut at this same stage worked for people like Holly Cavanaugh (and, I’ll bet it works for Candice Glover too this year)

David was clearly the best. The one that actually grabbed my attention in that episode. He was robbed of a spot.

The judging was so obvious that they and the producers were going against certain contestants no matter how good they were. I am really upset with what the show has come to this year. Sure there was manipulation before, but this year it takes the cake.

I never thought I’d be pining for Johnny Keyser. That’s how bad it’s gotten. Do you think Johnny would have been put through if he were competing in this group? Oh, who am I kidding. It was all predetermined, so what does it matter who was in what group.

I’m with you on this one. No complaints from me tonight. Half of these people aren’t even going to matter a week from tonight, and once they hit the studio with Jimmy and the band everything will be made to sound right.

Josh’s song was awful even for a contemporary Christian song. It’s like he took every cliched lyric from every inspirational song ever written and slapped them all together into one insufferably cheesy song. It was hard to decide what was worse: his songwriting, his falsetto or his clumsy stage moves. When he did that abrupt step back then jerked his foot back up I LOL’d. Dreadful performance. Lazaro’s vocals were horrendous to put it mildly!

I have to admit that when they showed all ten before the singing I took one look at Josh and knew he was not going thru no matter what he sang because he was the last sort of hunky white boy in the group. I admired him for going with his own song cause he had to have known that he was not going to go thru so why not show off his song writing skills. Unfortunately, I was not blown away with the lyrics in fact I don’t remember them cause I was so busy chasing his falsetto everywhere. Josh you made it too easy for them to cut you. Nicki seemed a little more strange than usual tonight and her thinking Burnell was better than Vincent (the one from San Antonio?) was a bit much but she does seem to enjoy the different. At times I like that in her and at times it irratates the hell out of me, I swear nothing is easy with Nicki.

I too thought David and Bryant should’ve gotten thru but I would have put Lazaro in as well. His voice soared on the high parts and he’s more my style of music than many of the other male competitors since I’m not a big R and B person. For the record I would’ve cut Burnell and Nick- Ive never gotten the appeal of either of them and the latter had a poor song choice tonight.

The competition tonight and the judges’ (I loosely call them that) decision has cemented my decision to not watch this season. I love(d) Idol but it is a poor imitation of itself right now and nothing about it makes me want to devote time to watching it.

The only American Idol article I want to read this year is a long list of names that have been fired from Fox and Freemantle for creating this year’s ugly mess of people that cant damn well sing but are through because of the color of their skin.

Enjoy your spot on the stool Cortez. Hunker down beside Zoanette and rub elbows with Elijah. None of these people earned their spot in but i guess a little lawsuit and “wgwg lol” scared the black jesus out of some suits at Coke and Newscorp.

Enjoy your rotten season contestants. You wont have my attention to kick around anymore.

Lol. I was upset at the racist charges at you too!!. I personally found the immigration joke funny. Sorry Nicki and Zoanette but leaving a country at 2 years old does not pull at my heart strings. Now hearing the story from your older siblings and parents who remember any of the so called hardships might but at 2 or 3 you don’t. Anyways back to Darcy’s evil twin, as long as I have been reading these recaps and you I have never ever seen you racist, you have always based every comment on the singing or what they did on the show, it has never been based on their race. I have been reading these recaps for several years, I first discovered them in the Adam Lambert year and I’ve followed Michael everywhere since then, we watch alot of the same shows. I have been watching AI since season 2 and I have ignored the conspiracy theory every year since, and then this year they have made it soo obvious that they do not want a man to win that I can no longer ignore the conspiracy theory. I don’t care about race, but couldn’t you have at least given us a few good looking hunky guys? Kevin was good looking, hunky and black, but noo. I thought Nicki’s reaction to David’s (was it David?) wife was funny, she doesn’t like it when a man she thinks is nice looking has a wife does she? Or did she not like that his wife was white? Either way she sure can be rude. LOL

Well, thanks for your nice comments. Just for the record I get called a racist at least twice a week on facebook as well, LOL. Young people have been so brainwashed with PC they confuse a fact, a joke, or sarcasm with racism.

As he says, Idol is currently under lawsuit for not letting enough minorities through. Who knows, maybe some of that thinking might enter into it a bit, thinking it makes the lawsuit easier to get tossed out? There was the curious booting of Kendra Chantelle after basically everyone agrees that she easily wiped the other singer off the floor in the sing off (and the prior song for that matter too).
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But Idol has made so many weird decisions the last few years it’s hard to make much of anything to be honest though. The Kendra thing may have even been more about protecting Lauren for all we know. And Joshua actually seemed like a favored on last season. And they certainly picked on Haley and then last season Hollie and even Elise at times.

I didn’t know anything about a lawsuit. This is supposed to be a talent competition – not the freakin’ UN! I fail to see how Idol can be sued. The American Public votes in the end. How are they going to sue the public?

Maybe what’s being referred to is the lawsuit that 9 or so former African American contestants launched against AI accusing the show of racism. They claim that the only contestants to ever be disqualified by the producers have been non-white. I guess their lawyer failed to discover Joanna Pacitti’s story. Anyway, that’s the only lawsuit I can think of.

This is not a talent competition. Nigel has come right out and said it is about casting an entertainment show.

Seriously Darcy.. until you give up the idea that this is primarily a talent competiion you are going to be a very angry person.

You would have every right to be angry if it were a talent show.. but its only slightly that. The very name “American Idol” and their very approach, from giving prime air time to back stories, to having the kids perform song and dance numbers that are a major part of the draw of the show and like any show, would be cast in ways that the cast compliments each other (just as Disney or a musical would cast a show).

There is a vote in popularity poll that viewers can voice their own personal preferences in.. and listen carefully… Ryan almost always asks “Who was your -favorite- ” sometimes it is “who deserves to go home” but as you can’t vote for who goes home, ,the point of the show is for everyone to get their one or two favorites a bit farther along. There IS a contest in that and it is based on MERIT.. but the merit is based on preferences of the audience for “the whole package” (looks, sound, poise, personality) out of the CAST of the show.

It would be better if they were upfront about that, but if you read this site for long you’ve read everything that Nigel writes and he’s pretty upfront about it.. and more and more upfront about it each year.

Anyway.. of course you can’t enjoy it if you think they’re going run it like a high school debate or drama tournament where they try to be objective.. those events are an entirely different animal.

Very eloquently put, Tom. As much as I love this show, even on nights like this, I don’t take it seriously as a competition. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am a creative writer, and this show gives me the best writing material, with all these songs and characters. I don’t care who wins or who goes home or who makes it however far. Just give me something to write about and I’ll be happy.

Tom22 – I understand it’s the entertainment version of “Gilligan’s Island”. I’ve known that for some time. But the casting could be a little better. My husband wouldn’t watch “Gilligan’s Island” reruns without Ginger and Mary Ann. :-)
Trust me, this is not the first year the casting has annoyed me. What’s frustrating to me is the judging seems so much better – so why are the contestants so much worse?
And by the way, I enjoy your posts here!

There were SO many great auditions, Tom22. I just find it difficult to swallow that, even with the constraints of casting the show, they couldn’t find 40 people out of tens of thousands that could sing?
Okay, taking your advice and shuttin’ up now.

Idol is not under a lawsuit for not letting enough minorities thru. That would be ridiculous given how many minorities have done well on the show every season. The lawsuit is on behalf of minorities who were embarrassed by being disqualified at some point in the process.

I’m salty about David but also Mathenee. I wish Mathenee would have sang an uptempo Titanium….I just think he has more to offer than Cortez. But the pecking order script was written well before the show’s taping and it showed tonight. For shame.

This show was just unfortunate all the way around. But the one person I thought had a good voice was Bryant, and he was let go. I didn’t get to hear Lazaro sing, but the short snippet they showed at the end was kind of meh compared to how Bryant sang.
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I know they want a girl to win this year, but really?

I thought Bryant had the best tone of voice of anyone tonight but WTF was with his and Burnel’s hand and arm flailing. Each word they sang was punctuated by these crazy, distracting hand fluttering. I thought I was watching the signer at a Bloomberg press conference.

I can’t believe they didn’t put Bryant through! He was the only one last night I would have wanted to hear again. Great voice.
One thing that was driving me crazy last night was the hand acrobatics. What is up with that? Has someone told the boys that this is the way you bring your body into the performance? If so…stop it. It is distracting to say the least. :)

This has got to be the worst top 10 — and the judges still managed to screw up — not picking Bryant? and the raves that they had for some people, ugh. for me if I was america next week, I would put through devin, paul, nick boddington, cortez and i’m not sure who else.
It’s kinda unfortunate that last weeks guys like johnny keyser did not get placed in this group of 10.
I do hope that the judges do do a wild card because america is bound to get something wrong.

Wow — this show has “jumped the shark” in more ways than one. Michael, I will miss you and Melinda more than anyone else. From the “meh” contestants to the useless judging panel (except Keith Urban), I am forever done with this show. Scrapin’ the Bottom of the Barrel of the talent pool. Giving cray-cray and self-indulgent “judges” more air time than they deserve. Later.

It’s obvious that at least 3 people every night have been pre-scripted to get put through. Tonight, those 3 were the last 3 to sing. Burnell definitely deserved it and Cortez arguably did, but Lazaro was a train wreck, way worse than Heejun ever was.

Bryant and David were the ones who got the shaft, partially because of the scripting and partially because they were too unlucky to sing last week. In the case of David, he had the additional problem that this particular judging panel has really been rising up to smack down any black singer who doesn’t do r&b or dance-pop.

Hey now, don’t go insulting one of my all-time favorite singers. I saw Josh in concert twice, and those are two of my greatest memories. And like I said earlier: get these kids in a studio and everything will be all right.

I was thinking the same thing. They let rockers sing country and r & b songs but if a country or r & b singer does anything other then their genre they get called for it. Didn’t they give Amanda Brown from The Voice a bunch of bs when she tried to sing rock songs. They kept saying they were confused with her choices even though she said she wanted to rock out.

Absolutely AWFUL night tonight. Only Vincent and David gave worthwhile performances in this group of 10. Bryant was good enough to merit advancing also, in my opinion. Nick was VERY disappointing. I was startled by the tongue bath Burnell got. It sounded like he was speak-singing through the entire song. Cortez’s voice borders on downright unpleasant to listen to. Lazaro… whew, just painful. And the less said about the others, the better. Yikes, truly an abysmal show; one of the worst EVER. Are we to believe these are 20 of the best male singers they could find in America? LOL, puh-lease.

I know. I really want a guy to win now, just to thwart the plan! And also cause I don’t love any of the girls THAT much more than any of the guys. Sure, some are better singers, but most are SO boring. ANY one of the Top 10 from last year could beat any ONE of the Top 20 this year, And that includes Kree.

Yeah right, last year Phillip was my favorite but it took a while to come to that because they were all so good. I would have been happy if any one of the top 7 would have won because they all stood out.

I thought Nikki was fun and different in audition rounds, but I have completely lost all respect for her. She is so dismissive of the other judges, and looks like a spoiled child when they don’t agree with her, with her side-eye and sneers. She was down-right nasty to David Willis, who was obviously fodder to begin with. Why tear the guy down? What a be*otch. Her publicist probably read all of the reviews on how her fawning over the boys last week was upsetting fans and took an about face. And the constant playing with her hair, so freaking annoying!!!!!

I’ve got to agree. I found Nicki funny and refreshing during the early rounds but have come to find her more and more obnoxious each week. The stank look and stink-eye she throws at anyone who disagrees with her is childish. Many of her “favorites” have been terrible and it seems the other judges are terrified of a nuclear explosion if they don’t go along with her choices. Give me three more Keith Urbans and put the others to bed.

I so agree with you. When Nicki was announced as a judge I was disgusted but during auditions I surprised myself that I actually grew to like her a lot as a judge. But these last couple of weeks while I still enjoy and agree with some of her comments, she’s sliding downhill fast. The way she faces towards Keith like she’s afraid of getting cooties from Randy and Mariah or like she’s too good to be sitting anywhere near them is really starting to bug me also. I also get this weird vibe that the others are walking on eggshells with her like they know she’s unstable and could lose it any minute and totally start freaking out. It’s just becoming uncomfortable to watch the dynamics going on.

I think you read to much into it. I think she converse with Keith like Randy and Mariah do with each other. I am actually pleasantly surprise that I like her. I don’t always agree with her and sometimes she is not as tactful, but Simon wasn’t either but I guess it was okay for him. I will say sometimes she goes overboard but for the most part I think she does well judging. Sometimes that side eye is justify for Randy.

Now that Lazaro is in the hands of the public, his trajectory will be inevitable. He’ll scoot through every week and UGH. This is a mess. If a girl doesn’t win this season, then all hope is lost. All hope.

This is the first time I actually fell asleep during AI. It was that boring. I am going to play it over now but from what I saw this is a bummer of a season.

Nikki is starting to grate on my nerves. She is very rude and unprofessional with the other judges with her faces and eye rolling. I really started to love her but her obbsession with some really freaky singers and her inconsistancy is starting to wear thin. Mariah is doing better, at least she is speaking now. Randy is Randy and is just annoying. Keith is my favorite. Funny he is probably the lowest paid yet he is the only reason I continue to watch.

Nick is still my favorite even though he did not knock it out of the park tonight, I don’t think he was as bad as the judges said. I believe he has the most potential and already has a decent fan base. I am routing for Nick, Kree and maybe Angela.

I really love Keith as a judge. His comments are really smart and insightful and he knows how to critique without being rude. Nikki was over the top tonight. I still like her. But there is no need to do stupid accents while you are degrading someone. That’s a little cruel. Maybe she was just bored? I know I was.

i’m sorry, michael. i can’t choose 5 to save. there weren’t 5 in there. maybe i’m missing something. these were the 20 best male singers out of ?what? 30,000? america has exhausted every male with a measurable testosterone level who can rock out a song? i’m beginning to think the shark has been jumped.

Um… Well… Hm…. I am glad I taped this. Even fastforwarding through most of it was torture. I would trade all 5 of the dudes they forwarded for 5 of the eliminated women. Yeesh. Did that just happen? I like Zonette. I do. But do we really need to see her doing summersalts in the audience while other people are performing? That’s gonna get old. Like now.

One of the guys was singing, and then this creature juts forward at the bottom side of my screen. It almost startled me. Then I realized it was Zoanette and her huge wig rushing forward to get a better look.

Oh Owen, you just made me laugh out LOUD for real. Thank you for that.
Zonette… “Who gonna check me Boo? Who gonna check me Boo?” It’s almost surreal.
Like, who didn’t know what they were getting when they kept her on board?

Yes to the rock part. Was rather obvious tonight that no WGWG was going through and spoiling their chance at getting a girl crowned. But sticking Charlie and Lazaro in the mix might backfire for Idol, because the viewing public loves to vote for polarizing contestants. I can both those guys appealing to a big block of voters and taking out some of the women.

We’ve had rock other years and we’ll have it again in the future. This is a year off ….. I love metal as much as I love jazz or blues or bluegrass… but really I like the guitar playing in metal more than the singing so rock always leaves me flat. If ehye let the contestant rip a 16 bar solo or something, which we’ve yet to see as it isn’t a guitar contest (I really would have liked to see Casey James rip.. I think he was a better guitar player than singer) . Front man is just the front. not the core (lol kidding slightly there)

Phillip Phillips was never in the bottom 3. That’s consistant enough. To be fair he had one questional preformance that he even admitted to “Time of the Season”. Most winners were never in the bottom 3. I think there may have been two that were. I know Fantasia was but I can’ t remember who else. Elise and Holly were in the bottom a lot last season. I think that is also what hurt Haley in season 10. She was in the bottom I think 3 times. It weakens the fan base.

What the judges say and bottom three or not (which can be influenced by judges at times) doesn’t necessarily mesh up with whether someone is consistent or not.
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I also LOVED (and yes I am being ironic) how so many weeks Haley would be given performance of the night and then because the second performance was merely upper middle of the pack or one week didn’t quite outdo the last week’s stand O then Randy and TPTB would then be such a shame so horribly inconsistent I don’t know I don’t man I think if anyone deserves to go home it’s you, WTH. And then then some others were getting zero performances of the night, like ever, and getting praised for always being consistent as if that was a good thing in that case! and IN IT TO WIN IT DAWG!!!!
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P2 had a rough stretch for a while (although considering how sick he was mad props for even makign it through Idol mad mad props) and Elise was blowing it out of the park I mean that one week she rocked it out and it was nuts and still getting all sorts of random feedback each week.
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As Colton said it is ‘reality’ TELEVISION and NOT a singing competition.

Randy was such a jerk wth Haley and that is the main reason I can’t tolerate him. I think Haley was the standout of season 10 and for the record I voted for her till my fingers felt like they were going to fall off. I still have hope that her career will take off, she is too good to fall at the way side. She is the total package. She just needs a break and someone to really believe in her and promote her.

Dull as dishwater. Every song sounded the same, and no one really stood out. Still can’t believe that Mariah didn’t know the Elvis song. Jeeeze. They REALLY don’t want a white guy to win: the only one is Paul!

Nicki was so annoying with her rude eye rolls and facial expressions all night. I loved when Mariah made a jab at Nicki in regards to Cortez; Mariah’s comment about how things have suddenly changed was in reference to Nicki being on Cortez’s jock tonight when Nicki had called him a “disgrace” in Hollywood while Mariah liked him.

Meanwhile, I don’t get why they like Lazaro so much. The dude with the nerve damage had a better voice and still has a “good story.”

There is something beautiful, sweet and hurting about Lazaro. It would have killed me to have seen him dumped. Sorry, I would much rather him be there than for that poor boy to have another disappointment. He is also, clearly, an audience favorite. Well, not the audience on Sleezak’s recap, but did you hear the auditorium scream for him?

Okay, good to know I’m not the only one who wanted Lazaro to stay. It was a shaky performance, but he just gives me these good vibes. Yes, I think he’s cute and he has a touching story. But the voice makes me happy, what can I say?

It broke my heart when he said he worked in the ice cream shop because it wasn’t a job that you needed to be smart at? I know he meant that because he stutters no one wants to hire him cause he doesn’t sound smart even though he could be a genius. I’m sorry but I like his singing and that story makes me glad he went thru ,people do think stuttering means you are not intelligent.

No, I certainly remember Queen for a Day, too – I watched it as a child with my grandmother; it was her favorite daytime show and we would just sit there crying our eyes out.
Come to think of it, I was just about crying my eyes out watching last night’s Idol, too.

marie, you get a Made Me Laugh! :-)
I would have been crying when the judges made their cuts has I not fallen asleep! My husband came home and was stunned to find me sleeping through the end of “Idol”.

Owwwweeen. I agree!!!! It’s interesting because my 9 year old son has really taken to Lazaro and is rooting for him. When he was put through I told my son that it shows you a good heart does, still matter in life.

Ditto.. but he will be entitled to vote next week and if he concentrates his votes and I concentrate my votes , he will get his favorite through and I will get my favorite through.. and that’s all that matters. People have different tastes.. I can’t expect people to agree with me … all I want is my a few I like to get farther along in the competition (well, I might groan a little about needing to hear what other people like.. but I won’t cry injustice about it — only injustice is when they don’t let the kids sing something that they might be good at… I’m ok with most of the other steering as long as the let the kids do something they can do well at when they get a chance to sing>

Gurpreet?? Are you completely deaf?? He had to be the worst of the night. Then his “just put me through and I’ll bring the guitar next week, you’ll love it” begging over and over made me want to smack him silly.

Totally! It was ridiculous! And I’m sorry but with the distracting grandpa foot tapping up & down while he sang? And the “If you let me through If you let me through If you let me through” over and over. I seriously felt like it was open mike at Jewel of the Crown.

I think American Idol is on it’s last run if out of all the people who auditioned this is the top 20 they come up with. The poorest talent pool ever. There are 3 girls who might have something. I think I will give it one more week to see if there is any hope at all, if not I am done this year.

No, as I recall, he wasn’t all that good. Good enough for Hollywood, but not beyond. Nonetheless, there were lots of good singers in the earlier rounds. Heck – there were better singers in these sudden death rounds that they let go. Nigel is shooting himself in the foot with this crop. This aging show can’t afford these kinds of shenanigans. It’ll never recover from this mess.

This was a disappointing night. The performances were so-so, and the judging was off. I felt again like Nigel had predetermined who was going through. I liked Bryant and was hoping he was going to make it. I still don’t believe the top 10 guys they ended up with were the cream of the huge crop that auditioned.

Oh dear. I don’t know what to say. Part of the reason I don’t know what to say is because I fell asleep during that snoozefest before the judges made their decisions and based on what I’m reading here it’s just as well.
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Mathenee was still in “Bahamas Resort Entertainer” mode rather than “I want to win American Idol” mode. I expected so much more from him than a rushed version of “A Little Less Conversation”. What an odd song choice. In a gangsta outfit, even.
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Gurpreet – oh my. What Randy Said. That was worse than that Sparklyheadscarf Dude’s “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay”.
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Vincent Powell- Welcome to the 1970s. You’re very good, but I think Curtis Finch has his name on your slot.
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Nick Boddington – ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz…..oh, is the show still on?
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Josh Holiday – oh Josh, I REALLY wanted to like you. I’m just glad you weren’t better, because if you’d been better I would really be upset about the judges cutting you just because you are adorable and a threat to the Season of the B***h.
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Kevin Harris – FINALLY, someone else that can SING. Yay! BGWG! So of course you will be toast. And you were.
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Bryant Tadeo – I liked “New York State of Mind” – but I’m sure it means you’ll be gone. And you are gone.
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Burnell Taylor – you looked like Urkel and WTH were the judges hearing that I wasn’t????
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Lazaro – AAAAACK! Sweet Baby Jesus, people – stop destroying Keith Urban’s songs! HOW DID THIS GUY GET THROUGH? Bad phrasing, mushy diction, and was there any English in there?
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Cortez Shaw – NOW DO YOU PEOPLE BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY HE’S THE REINCARNATION OF WHITNEY HOUSTON – WHEN SHE WAS ON CRACK?
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What in the name of everything holy has happened to this show? If you’re unhappy and you miss White Guy With Guitar, clap your hands!

I wouldn’t be surprised if David has a similar story of rejected songs…. both had convincing (albeit a bit manic and strange) performances that were followed by phoned in, lame, and clearly staged responses from the judges. While Cortez and Lazaro have their praises sung? Not good TV tonight at all…

The good news is that we finally get to vote. I only see 3 guys who should continue beyond next week – Devin, Vince, and Curtis. Unfortunately we will be saddled with at least 2 others. Doesn’t matter who.

But I am looking forward to hearing the girls. Hopefully we can make quick work of paring down the guys so we can get to enjoying what the girls have to offer.

Okay, let’s be honest. Were the guys tonight THAT much worse than the girls last night? I mean, the girls were better, but not by very wide margin. As a matter of fact, if we are counting notes hit, I’m guessing the girls collectively fared worse…

Yeah, it’s going to take more than next week to hope the voters can straighten-out some of the obvious failure of the judges and producers to advance the better talent into the top 20. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
There will obviously be some fodder in the top 10; because there are not 10 really stand-out good talents in the top 20. Some will vote for a genre they like,….. some like the high falsetto with sweeping-wild vocal melisma…..
some vote for an individual they like (popularity) …….
and some will vote for anyone other than who the judges are promoting the most that week, …..
some will be influenced by what their favorite judge likes……

The only one I would have swapped would have been David for Lazaro. I don’t think Lazaro is the next American idol at all but now I’m worried he’ll get through because of all the pimpin’. He is very likeable.

I am kind of intrigued by Burnell and am surprised to see quite a few negative comments about him. Liked Vincent too, there was some Sam Cooke in that performance.

It’s refreshing to see so much racial diversity among the performers this year.

One of every five has not deserved to make it but did so for their back story. Tenna was from Camp Mariah, Charlie is all kinds of weird and now Lazaro. And each time they somehow get through, someone else that deserved the spot based on singing talent alone has been sent home (Brandy, Kevin, David)

MARIAH CAREY…………….COVER YOUR BOOBS!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE ALMOST 43 YEARS OLD…………NO ONE WANTS TO SEE THOSE THINGS………..I MEAN HAVE YOUR STYLIST AT LEAST PULL UP YOUR GARMENTS ANOTHER TWO INCHES. FOR HEAVENS TO BETTYS SAKE.

YOU ARE NOT GIVING ME A VISION OF LOVE…BUT A VISION OF CHRISTINA ON THE VOICE.

Btw, on the topic of Mariah, did you happen to glance above the breastule region and notice that in the course of one week, Miss M got upper cheek-injections AND new teeth/veneers? Oh ya! Absolutely! As soon as they did the introductions I did a double-take and sure enough, when I side-by sided the picture: Totally different. I mean, her smile is transformed. That’s why she was feelin’ so fine this week. Crazy stuff!

Dear Nigel Lythgoe, as much as you want to have a female winner does not mean it is at the expense of having a very ailing talent level of guys tonight (and so was last week). Well, I hope it will not backfire your plan and so are your ratings (which are actually sinking anyway).

Couldn’t even make it through a single performance. I literally had to switch the channel during every. single. performance. Nigel really has taken too much control over the production and it is completely suffering from it. Viewership is dropping quite significantly and although I actually do hope they turn it around during the live shows (and by that I mean the few contestants that are genuinely good stay true to themselves, but hopefully the scripted pimping the judges will be giving those few won’t make me want to change the channel every single episode), honestly I don’t even know if I’ll be able to stomach it.